It's a lesson that Gov. Jerry Brown put to effective use in preparing a state budget that contained only modest increases. He stared down a spending lobby that wanted billions restored to popular and appealing programs that were sharply trimmed over the past several years.

Now it's local governments' turn to choose a course in much the same way with a string of labor contracts coming due. BART's pact may be the first, but it won't be the last. In each case, years of little or no wage increases are producing demands for major boosts locked in by multiyear contracts. There's a pent-up demand that can't be avoided.

This urgent feeling makes a powerful argument for salary and fringe improvements put off for so long, especially because these expenses are partly paid by rising property taxes from home purchases and sales tax revenues that rise with a rebounding economy.

On the other side of the bargaining table is a justifiable fear that the future will again disappoint. The improving economy is prone to more pressure points than ever: global trade, national trends, and fast-changing technology. In addition, other public expenses such as maintenance and construction were postponed along with wages, making for a backlog of unattended problems.

What's needed is a balanced outcome, not a victory for one side. The polarizing lists of unrealistic demands and counterproposals in the BART dispute offer a template of what not to do.

The deep trough of the last recession should be an instructive warning sign. It shouldn't be read as the bottom of a financial curve that will inevitably keep rising.

Just as California couldn't sustain all its public spending during the downturn, neither can Bay Area municipal and transit agencies do the same if times turn hard. One of BART management's sensible goals in these negotiations is to get workers to contribute more to their pension and health care benefits.

The Bay Area is at a financial turning point. It's emerged shell-shocked and wary from a devastating recession. As economic life improves, its leaders should act with caution and fairness in making any financial promises. As the strikes against BART and the city of Oakland underscored Monday, the return of relatively good times is creating its own form of discomfort for all.